No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen - One small metric signals midterm disaster for Republicans

Episode Date: October 7, 2026

Some shocking numbers in the voter registration changes category signal disaster for Republicans. Brian interviews Pod Save America’s Tommy Vietor and Ohio Senate candidate Sherrod Brown.Support Sherrod Brown: https://www.sherrodbrown.com/Written by Brian Tyler CohenProduced by Sam GraberRecorded in Los Angeles, CASee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We've got some shocking numbers in the voter registration changes category, and I've got two interviews, Potta of America's Tommy Vitor, and Ohio Senate candidate Sherrod Brown. I'm Brian Taylor Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie. For the last few years, there has been a set of numbers that I've been watching that served as something of a canary in the coal mine, and those were the voter registration changes in each state. And for years, those numbers have gone up for Republicans

by a wider margin than they have for Democrats. In nearly every state, even in blue states, More voters would register as Republicans than would register as Democrats. In some instances, Democratic registration would actually go down while Republican numbers would go up. Same story every month for years. Until now, according to the latest voter registration changes, Democrats are finally showing voter registration advantages in states like Nebraska, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Colorado, California, Delaware, New Jersey, even Florida.

All of those states where Republicans had constantly been registering more Republicans and Democrats have just reversed that tide. In fact, according to Gallup in the third quarter of this year, so right now, 50% of respondents identified as Democrats, while only 39% identified as Republicans. That's an 11 point advantage for the left, the largest quarterly margin since the first quarter of 2009. That's how far you have to go back to see a margin that big. For comparison in the fourth quarter of 2024, so during the election, Republicans had a

four-point advantage. So in total, between the 2024 election versus midterms now, we're looking at a 15-point swing to the left since the last major election. And there's another trend that's being reversed. So since 2010, Democrats have been shedding control of state legislatures. In fact, this is something that I wrote about in my first book, Shameless. I'm going to read an excerpt from that now. By 2010, shortly after the activity of the Tea Party movement had crested, Republicans introduced Project Redmap, the goal of which was to to win control of state legislatures ahead of redistricting in a successful effort to gerrymandered both legislative and congressional maps.

As election lawyer Mark Elias, the National Authority on voter rights explained, Project RedMap was one of the first concerted efforts to weaponize redistricting. What Project RedMap did was it came at the perfect period when computer technology had evolved to allow gerrymandering to be done with a lot more precision, and it was right after the Tea Party movement. So there was the convergence of two things, a hyperpartisan impulse on the side of Republicans and new technology to execute it. But it was always not.

effort to weaponize the redistricting process and ruthlessly engage in partisan gerrymandering. It was, of course, highly intentional and strategic, end quote. In other words, for almost two decades, there has been a concerted and successful effort by Republicans to flip state legislatures. And obviously, we've all seen the consequences of that, the consequences on maps, on abortion rights, and on and on. Well, even that trend now seems to have stopped in its tracks. According to Washington Post, quote, Democrats are on offense.

they could break up full Republican control in as many as six states and when unified control in as many as seven of their own, a Washington Post analysis found. Republicans are on their heels with a chance to disrupt full Democratic control in only two states and pick up full control in as many as five. Now, with all of that said, none of this is to make you feel complacent. This is all meant to inspire you to recognize that a lot of longstanding trend lines that have plagued the left are now being reversed.

But to continue that, that takes work. Trump is going to tease the prospect of a big October surprise. He's going to try and undermine the results. He'll sue. He'll get his lackeys and Secretary of State's offices to meddle. He will do whatever he can, hoping that even the prospect of interference is going to suppress the vote. Do not give him the satisfaction. Every time you hear about some effort to interfere in the election, just let it redouble your intention to make your voice heard.

The election will be free and fair. Make a plan and vote early. And let's land this plane that will effectively end Trump's presidency, fewer than four weeks from today. Next up are my interviews with Tommy Vitor and Sherrod Brown. No Lie is brought to you by Ship Station, so I am a procrastinator, and nowhere is that more apparent

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helpful something like sinking orders across all your online stores or keeping track of inventory can be. Peak season doesn't wait and neither should you. Get ahead of it today with shipstation and get 60 days free at shipstation.com with code BTC. That's shipstation.com. Code BTC. Taxes and fees apply. We have some big news here, Tommy, that signals an upending of the midterm elections as far as the Senate is concerned. I want to point your attention to some Rasmussen polling. I'm going to put it right here on the screen. New Hampshire, Democrats are up 11, Georgia, 9, North Carolina, 7, Iowa, 5, Michigan 3, Ohio 3, Maine 1, Texas 1, and Alaska tied.

So obviously, if these results bear themselves out, this would mean that Democrats would retake the Senate. I want to get your read of these results as they stand right now. They feel a little rosy. A little rosy. How are we feeling about these? We trust in Resumus in here? I don't know. A couple weeks ago, there was a lot of concern that New Hampshire was tightening.

Does he a plus 11? Yeah. I don't know. Maybe there's an entire narrative shift. Aossov is definitely running a better campaign. Cooper's running a better campaign. I have a really hard time believing that Josh Turk is up five in Iowa. When I talk to his people, they think it's like at best tied.

Yeah. So I think these might be a little rosy. Okay. So, so you'd rather be rosy than bad, though. Well, that's the thing. You'd rather be rosy and bad. But at the same time, I think that there is some, I think there's, there is some strategy. And even when you see a good poll, like, don't allow it to make you complacent.

No, no, for sure. So I think, you know, even in instances like this, like how, like how I view this kind of thing is, okay, this means that this is possible, but still run like you're 15 points behind. Yeah, I mean, the question is when you see polls that have us up in all of these states, it just becomes a little bit of a harder question about resource allocation. Because if we're really winning by nine in Georgia, do you then reroute some of that money to Florida or, you know, Kansas or some of these more reach states? I mean, the problem is our candidates are getting outspent in like every single Senate race,

period. Yeah. You know, there was some interesting, there was some interesting analysis today because we just saw newsbreak earlier this morning that leaked audio from Ken Paxton suggested that Donald Trump was like put on a bad midterm convention. The irony of Ken Paxton complaining that a midterm convention took place in Texas, like this was for him. Like, there would not have been a midterm convention. It's not like these guys did it because they enjoy Texas in the summer. They did it to help the guy who is about to lose like the bastion of conservatism in the U.S. Senate in this in this Senate seat. So it's just ironic that the worst speaker, the most corrupt politician in America is complaining that like he didn't get the bump that he needed or wanted out of this midterm convention that was expressly done to help him. And I think like whether or not Trump, Trump definitely intended it to help Paxton.

I don't think it did. I was talking to some Democrats in Texas when we were just there who viewed that two days. as a gift. And they also point out to me that I think Paxton got like a 5 p.m. speaking slot. So just when everyone is stuck in like Dallas or Houston traffic, Ken Paxton got his like six minutes and 45 seconds or whatever it was. So yeah, they must have been so happy when that was over. Can you imagine how pissed you would be? But there is some there's some thinking that this is a way to like poison the well with Ken Paxton and Trump or basically to signal to the moneyed interest that like, you know what, don't spend your money on Ken Paxton anymore.

This is just a way so that we can divert money to places where we really need it to help, you know, Roger Marshall in Kansas, for example, so that we can help John Hustead in Ohio. You're saying we as a, if you were a Republican, if it was a Republican party, basically trying to say like, this guy isn't worthy of, you know, the Trump's PAC money and now we're going to leak something that's going to hurt his relationship with Trump so that Trump basically you know, cuts off funding and can reroute it to people who may be more viable as candidates. I mean, what is it? Is the main Republican Senate super PAC? I can't remember like wit how many organizations are part of the spending, but the latest number for Ken Paxson is like $200 million

from these super PACs. And you never know what Elon Musk is going to do. I mean, he could spend a billion dollars tomorrow when it would just like kind of, you and I digging money out of the couch. I wonder if it's there like, like, you know, there's actually a funny, a funny meme that I saw of like, of like James Tellerico basically diving in front of a sleeping, a sleeping rest of these Democratic Senate candidates because James Tellerico is taking every barb. He's just, he's, he is so formidable in Texas that everybody is spending all of this money to, to basically beat him in Texas. And if it weren't for James Tellerico, all that money would be spent against Mary Peltola and Sherrod Brown and Roy Cooper. But, but it's not. They're dumping

so many hundreds of millions of dollars just in Texas. They are. But they are. But they're. They're lighting money on fire in Texas, but they still have way more money than us. I mean, I think like the Turks people are getting outspent. Not two to one, but like pretty close. And like Sherrod Brown just had like $30 million dumped on his head by the goddamn crypto people who defeated him last time. So there's just like so much corporate super pack money getting spent for Republicans at the end that it's like that's the part that kind of makes me so anxious. Is it too little too late or is it the right time because now people are tuning back into politics?

And I asked this because the New York Times did. an analysis of, you know, bipartisan analysis. They asked independence, Republicans, and Democrats, what they thought of Ken Paxton. And overwhelmingly, the response from all of these people in their focus group was like, he's corrupt. He's a piece of shit. He is just amoral. Yeah, he's a known quantity down there. Right. But in large part, that was owed to the fact that Tala Rico's been on the air for months defining Ken Paxton. And also, John Cornyn ran tens of millions of dollars in tax ads on Ken Paxton.

But, like, is there a world where... where being able to have done, being on the airwaves kind of alone has allowed the Democrats to to define their Republican opponents? Or is this just like, you know, you think that maybe those are for the high information people, but now is when the normies tune in. And so, you know, having an ad today is just worth more inherently than having an ad a month ago and people might not have been in election mode. I think when you're talking like $200 billion of ads in a state like Texas from the Republicans alone, there is a diminishing marginal return to those ads and to that spending, especially in this race where there was a brutal primary on the Republican side.

Tala Rico has been spending and the name has gotten out. He's become sort of a national figure. Yeah. Now, then you look at a race like Iowa where Josh Turrick's pretty new, relatively unknown. Ashley Hinson is a member of Congress, but she's not like some statewide elected official or known figure. And I do think there you will have a relatively small group of undecided, let's say, 10, 50, 15% of the electorate that will make up their mind the last week or two weeks. And maybe the only information they get about politics is from paid media.

Yeah. So that's where, you know, I think the majority of voters are going to vote if they vote at all because they're really pissed about the economy. I think that's going to be like the thing that drives them. It's gas prices, diesel prices and inflation generally. But ads on the margins, I think can make a difference. Yeah. And that's the thing.

Like we saw in 2024 that, that even people who didn't pay attention to politics at all, they still live in the community. They're still contending with high prices. They're still contending with inflation. Those problems from 2024, not only didn't get fixed, they've been exacerbated.

We're still dealing with even higher gas prices, even higher inflation, even higher grocery, utility, electricity bills, you name it. And far from there being fewer wars, there's a brand new one. So aren't people going to see that and just by virtue of getting their bills in the mail, you know,

that's going to be more potent than any advertising, no matter how many hundreds of millions of dollars get poured into it. Probably, yeah. I mean, I think, like, every time you fill up your tank, you see an attack ad on the incumbents, right? I mean, that's kind of way I think about it. I do think there are, there will be people who learn about a candidate for the first time

and they see some crazy thing in a mail or attack ad. It's like such and such liberal voted some insane way, on some insane thing, and they suddenly think, like, this person's outside the mainstream, where they sound bad. That happens. I'm just, I'm knocking on wood that we, the metaphors of this election are strong and they're pushing, you know, the wind of Democrats backs. Also pushing the wind of Democrats backs is like, you know, we have Trump who came out today and started advocating yet again for data centers, which has become an 80, 20, a 90, 10 issue as far as Americans are concerned. There was a moment today where even Ron DeSantis, who is like, you know, mouth attached to Trump's ass for the entirety of his career. He even came out and started pushing back against data centers and artificial intelligence. And so, you know, isn't, doesn't this pose kind of an existential problem for Republicans?

Because on one hand, you know, Cardinal rule number one is you have to is you have to heap favor and deference on the Trump every day, all day, if you want to stay in his good graces, otherwise, he'll attack you. But on the flip side, like, we are four weeks out from an election and to position yourself, even just to curry favor with Trump on the side of data centers or even being squishy or soft about it, like, isn't that a terrible message to send your constituents a month out? So we were just in Texas. I was talking to Democratic strategist down there. And he said the moment he knew that Greg Abbott, the governor in the governor's race, was like in trouble and worried, was when all of a sudden Abbott came out and reversed his previous position on data centers. It was like sending up a flare to show that, hey, I'm actually really worried about what's going on politically.

The other instance was when Mike Rogers, Abdul al-Sayad's opponent in Michigan in that Senate race came out and said he thinks the Iran war should end. And this is like the most hawkish, meokan, like deep state former FBI, Intel committee guy. And it's like, you know in his heart, he keeps one to invade. He wants to invade Iran every day for the rest of his. life. And it just showed that they are worried about these issues, worried about the kind of political wins in the zeitgeist of the moment. And they felt they needed to break with Trump on some policy. The problem for them is he will not let them get away from him. He hugs all of these senators. He goes to Texas for the midterm convention. He makes everything about himself. He's going to go

on the road, he said, and do an event in Iowa. He's paying. We government like taxpayers are paying for ads that just show his dumb fucking face walking down in a hallway. So like he's omnipresent. In a way, like, I know that it's illegal and unethical and all the things. Is there a world where Trump putting Trump on the airwaves as much as humanly possible is actually a net benefit for Democrats? Totally. Absolutely. He's the biggest, like, it's so funny.

Like there's all this like guilt by association stuff being played with like Democrats and Abdul and like streamers out here in California. Like the worst guilt by association game. you can play right now is be like a Republican being fucking friends or like allied with Donald Trump. His approval ratings in the 30s. Yeah. And yet why is there no like is there nobody around this guy? Like even with look, with any politician, you're going to have some understanding.

I'm sure this was the case in 2024 with how much of a liability Joe Biden was with the electorate. Like even politicians within their own party know like, okay. I know I'm not going to do well here, so I'm going to stay away because my goal is to help the broader movement. Is there nobody around Trump that can even, that can get him to say, like, hey, maybe I'm going to be a liability here, so I'll stay away. There's just he doesn't, that doesn't exist around him and he, and he's just solely not interested in doing anything that's going to help his own party? I think he is just a total narcissist. Yeah. He only cares about himself. He doesn't care about winning the election. He wants to. But if he, if he truly cared about himself and

and wanted to create a congressional composition where he's protected, where he doesn't possibly get impeached, where he doesn't have his family. He knows he's not going to get removed. He knows he can't be prosecuted for anything because of the Supreme Court. They can investigate his kids. They can investigate the amount of money that he's heaping into their pockets. They can and they will.

I just think he doesn't care anymore. He's like, I'll pardon who I have to pardon when it comes down to it. Because you just keep reading all these stories, He's like the journal had won today about how Trump is really mad that he's not getting credit for his accomplishments. Yeah. He's not seeing enough people on TV defending him. It is like, look, this happens to, it happened to Joe Biden to when, you know, his approval was in the absolute toilet. He drops off the ticket.

Kamala Harris becomes president. And his message to her is no daylight kid. Yeah. Even though, like, Democrats hated his Gaza policy. They were mad about immigration. People were mad about inflation not coming down. And so, like, there's just a certain amount of narcissism you need in your body to, like, run for president. And Trump is the biggest narcissist we've ever seen in the job period.

Yeah. Well, you know, on going back to the data center point for just a quick beat, do you not think that the DC data center party moved the needle? I think we have a clip. Let's throw to this. I'm at DC's pro-data center party. And I'm asking why people love data centers. Because I love the internet and it allows me to be on the internet. They're going to power the future.

Kind of necessary infrastructure. It's ridiculous to be against them. And I'd rather have them here than in China. I love data centers so I can stream sports and then cry about my sports teams. Are you convinced? Dude, like, are drinks that expensive? Like, is it worth it to get, like, three vodka sodas for free to have to just debate yourself? Be memorialized on camera forever being like, I love data centers because I love the Internet.

And there would be no Internet without data center. I like stream sports. Also, how many British people did they find to do this? Can you find some fucking Americans? to do your propaganda. What is this slop? Also, like, a pro data center party in DC? Like, can you imagine, like, play that at a focus group of like Iowa undecideds or like farmers?

Like, they will hate every single one of those people. That is not good propaganda. Yeah, you would think with all that super intelligence, you'd be able to find some better for some better propaganda. Claude, write me a better ad than this crap. What the hell? Well, look. We should go to this shit.

To the data center party? It would be funny to like just camp out. Just be in there and try to get in their propaganda videos. Just try to be a mole. Like, I don't know. I'm glad we, I'm glad you play this. I'm fascinated by this.

I want to know how it came together. I want to know who funded it. Are we entirely sure that it's real? It could just be AI. It could just be AI. I mean, honestly, that would be smarter. I don't know what person would want to be memorialized in that video forever.

It's going to be the worst. It's already the worst aging thing, like to be pro-dating. Center in the year of our Lord 2020. Like probably a year or two before AI comes for us all. And you've got these kids being like, I love data center. Data center is good. And I just want, you know, Brian, I know you love your audience.

And so you cut down what was a like three minute clip originally to like 15 seconds for this video. Brian did that because he loves you because it just gets worse and worse and worth. But like some of these kids are rip shit drunk. They're just hammered, barely articulating their words. Like you said, you know, it's a testament to the state of the economy. that if you want to drink in this economy, there's a heavy price you have to pay.

Yeah, all these kids have a data center in their backyards. Like a little mini one in their bathrooms. All right, well, look, to see more of Tommy and the rest of the team at Crooked Media, I'm going to put the link to Pod Save America's YouTube channel right here on the screen and also in the post description. If you're listening on the podcast, I'm going to throw it in the show notes.

Tommy, thanks so much for time. No Lie is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. So I do whatever I can to save time. I use subscription meal services, delivery for whatever stuff that I need for the house, and I don't think I'm capable of driving without also responding to emails while I drive. I know it's bad. We all have our own time-saving hacks for everyday life, but if you're a business owner, how can you save time hiring? ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter has a new feature that quickly lets you see the most interested qualified candidates first,

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Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. I'm joined now by the nominee for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, Sherrod Brown. I want to start off first and foremost because we have heard of Ohio. We've watched as Ohio's trended in a redder and redder direction over the course of really my entire career in politics, certainly the last decade. Can you give an overview of what the polling is looking like in your race right now? Yeah, polling. Polling looks good because frankly, voters realize that John Hustead, the incumbent appointed by the governor is not represent. He's not a voice for the state. He voted for the war 14 times.

He's voted for higher insurance premiums because he's a major, major beneficiary of insurance money, seven or eight times. We've 160,000 Ohioans lost their insurance. So people recognize, I understand that Trump won the state by a lot. People recognize that they didn't vote for this. They didn't vote for a war. They didn't vote for higher gas and diesel prices. they didn't vote for insurance companies. Bigger profits didn't vote for people to lose their health insurance.

So people clearly want change. They know they're not represented by any kind of voice for them in Washington. How has that kind of manifested in John Hustad, Hughstead's campaigning? Because of course these people have basically prostrated themselves for Donald Trump for the course of a decade, really, but certainly these last two years, even as prices were going up thanks to the trade war, even as the Iran War itself was sending

gas prices higher, fertilizer prices higher, sent hurting farmers. They've done nothing. I mean, Congress had the ability to basically act as an independent branch of government and said they've contracted all of their autonomy over to the executive branch. And so what is John Hustead trying to do now to offer the optics at the very least that he is an independent voice in the U.S. Senate. Well, he says he wants to end the war, it needs to end, and then he votes for it for the 14th time. So the optics, I guess, are what they are.

John Hustead was a special interest politician in Ohio that looked out for the utility company. He was involved in a huge scandal where there was a $61 million bribe to a local politician who went to jail. Hustead is that he was a special interest guy in Columbus, He's a special interest guy in Washington. And Washington, it's the data centers. It's the drug companies. It's Wall Street. He occasionally sponsors a bill that might look good.

The politics might look good, but never materializes and continues to vote against Ohioans' interests. So in that, but John Eustad about a month ago, sent out a plea for his corporate friends from, mostly from the West Coast to bail him out with. with the data center crowd, the crypto crowd. They spent $30 million. They already started to spend $30 million in Ohio in ads against me. And that's where his money comes from. It's in big chunks. My money comes from small contributions.

People can go to share atground.com and kick in $10, 15, 20 bucks. We've raised 60% of our budget in small contributions. And, you know, that means $10, $20, $30 each. I'd rather be funded that way than be funded by the crypto. the tech companies, the oil companies, the drug companies, who have funded his entire career, really. And coming down from the top, I mean, Trump himself has shown overt deference to these tech companies, these tech CEOs, and certainly data companies and AI companies.

And this happens at a time where, you know, that issue has become a lightning rod in politics because you have these companies moving into small towns. There's concerns about noise. There's concerns about water consumption. there's concerns about electricity, and yet that doesn't seem to bother anybody in this Republican conference as they continue to kind of race

to implement more and more and more data centers across the country. Do you have any faith or should the people of Ohio have any faith that when it comes to John Hustead in the U.S. Senate, that he'll be a voice that's going to represent Ohioans as it relates to this issue,

the proliferation of these data centers across states? Yeah, really, right in the opposite of that, where Houston, local media have called Houston, the face of data centers. Over the last several years, when he was in state government, he was essentially responsible for $2.5 billion in subsidies to the data centers. They came up, as you said, they swallowed up the land. They gulped up the water. They came into these communities without anybody really knowing what they were.

Three years ago, people just didn't know what these data centers were. now that I was out in Wood County South of Toledo the other day, there's a 280-acre data center being built, one of the largest in North America is my understanding. And people end up paying higher electric bills for that. So Hustadt is really their guy. He can't, I mean, he is, they know I'm not their guy. They know I'll take them on just like Wall Street knows it, just like big tech knows it, just like the drug companies know it. But John Hustead is, if you will, ideally suited. to be their boy, and that's been his career being the guy for the electric companies,

the guy for Wall Street, the guy now for the data centers and the crypto crowd. You know, looking at a state like Ohio, and I often ask candidates in red states or states that have been trending red as Ohio has, you know, when you're out on the campaign trail, I'm sure that you talk to people for whom their partisan affiliation has become part of their identity, you know, in the same way that somebody would, would, would, view their religion or their race or whatever it may be as part of their identity, their job, their profession, their geographical, you know, where they're from. And so it's not as easy as being able to say, sure, I voted for Republican my whole life, but I'm totally happy to just

vote for Democrats now. I'm sure it's a more difficult decision for these folks. And so for people that you've spoken to, particularly independents and Republicans, what have those conversations been like where you have someone who, you know, for whom they have, their, their support for Republican candidates or politicians has been a big factor in who they are, but are now recognizing that it's not working for them. Yeah, first thing you listen to them. Don't, don't say things like, why do you vote against your own interests? Because essentially that's calling them stupid. So you listen to them. One, one set of questions I've asked in rural Ohio, and I'm in rural Ohio a lot, even though, you know, those are counties that maybe are,

65, 70, 75% Republican. We'll do better in those counties, a lot better than Democrats have passed. But one of the things I ask is when I ask the question, what do you think about the Trump tariffs? You will get an answer often like, give them more time. I think I think you'll fix it. But if you ask the question, what do you think of the tariffs? You have a whole different set of answers. You hear them say, these tariffs have caused my soybean markets to dry up.

These tariffs have caused my spare parts to. fix my tractor or combine or truck to go away or to go in to be to be sold for such high prices. But so, so if you listen to them and then you kind of let them come to that conclusion that I'm on your side, it can be a very different outcome. And so, and they are, people in rural Ohio are really unhappy, just like rural Iowa, just like rural Kansas, where Democrats that you wouldn't have expected to win are now very competitive. I will do much better in Western Ohio, which is flat, really good farmland, a lot of corn and soybeans.

And I grew up working on a dairy farm in baled hay and we combined wheat and combined oats. And, you know, I have a feel for them and can talk to them. And once we open those conversations, they can see them on their side. I'm not going to get 55 percent there, but I can get 40 or 45. Right. Right. And at the very least, you know, build up enough of a margin that if and when you become the next U.S. Senator for the state of Ohio, then people will start to recognize, oh, here's how my life looks markedly different from when Trump and Republicans were in charge, who, again, prostrated themselves for him, continue to perpetuate these trade wars, continue to perpetuate the war in Iran, whatever it may be, you know, and exacerbate these policies that are only going to make their lives more expensive.

I hear from them without sort of preempting it. Some of the major things going on, they just don't like. They hate this war. They hate the tariffs. They didn't vote for the war. They didn't vote for the tariffs. They didn't vote for these higher prices. And you kind of put that out there and then listen and they talk to their friends.

And some of them won't vote at all because they're so disgusted. Many of them have just been, as you pointed out, Brian, they've been Republicans, their whole lives. and it's hard for them to get there, but they'll see some of their friends do it. And I think you'll be surprised at how much better we do in farm country than in the past. Yeah. I want to switch gears a little bit here to a little bit of a different type of question. There was news recently of a scandal that erupted in John Hustead's campaign

where one of his staffers, one of his top staffers, used a Nazi soldier as a profile photo. Can I have your reaction to that? Yeah, it's clear that you are, you really are the company you keep. And John Eustadt is he surrounded himself with people that are ideologues that are on the wrong that clearly don't have the same values that the overwhelming majority of Ohioans have. And this was not an inconsequential job.

This was his political director. He's done the same with he had a, he had a felon in his office who was, as part of the brain, actually ran his campaign in the state's biggest county, who is a pedophile. and you surround yourself with people like that. It tells you a whole lot about your values and a whole lot about your character. Last question here. And this is kind of the opposite question

of what we've been saying, which is, you know, there is a state like Ohio that has been so difficult and out of reach for Democrats. How do we keep, how do we overcome those obstacles, those historical obstacles that we faced? On the flip side of that, there are going to be people who see that we are trending in a very blue political,

environment ahead of midterms and they're going to say, you know, have a feeling of complacency. And they're going to say, we've got this in the bag. And so coming from a state like Ohio, which has been trending redder and redder and redder and recognizing that anything can happen and that we've seen polling that's good for Democrats in the past, like in 2024 in certain states. And then, you know, obviously election day delivers a much different result. What would you say to people who look at the broader environment and feel like, you know, they can kind of breathe a sigh of relief even in advance of November 3rd? Well, they're breathing some size relief

because they see good results around the country. But I don't think anybody's complacent in my state if you want to change the direction of this country. So I've heard that, what you said. I don't worry about that much. But what I'm seeing people do is people are showing up in bigger numbers. I invited a dozen veterans to come to a meeting in a very Appalachian conservative part of the state near Chilli-Kothi.

We invited about a dozen and 50 showed up. concern about closing a VA, concern about cuts to veterans benefits and concerns about about the Iranian war. So people, people are excited. They know this is the chance to stop the bad things happening in this country and put a check on what's happening. And they, they recognize that John Hustead is just totally a cipher, totally in the tank for corporate interests. And a terrible foreign policy, a terrible policy on tariffs, a terrible policy on the war, they know that it's so important and they see their friends getting out active when many of them hadn't been this active before.

Can we get your campaign website one last time for folks who are looking to help? Thank you. People should come to sharebrown.com. Contribute whatever he can or sign up to help. I mean, we particularly if you live in Ohio, we need your help going door to door. We need your help making phone calls, writing postcards, giving 10 or 15 or $20. And I'm running against this machine, more money. probably will be spent this year like it was two years ago than any Senate race in the United States

history with the data center crowd coming in this time and trying to buy this election. People in Ohio understand we're not going to let that happen. So come online, help in any way you can with money as a volunteer, talking to your friends, whatever you can do. I really appreciate that. And I would reiterate for folks who are looking to help. You know, I have a lot of people who often say I live in a true blue state. There's not really much I can do here.

This is an opportunity where you can really offer up some help. And if we're able to win this Senate race in Ohio, that will mean that we will take the U.S. Senate. So I'm going to put that link right here on the screen and also in the post description. If you're listening to the podcast, I'm going to throw it in the show notes. Sherrod Brown, thank you so much for taking the time. Best luck in the campaign trail.

Thank you. Thank you. It's really important. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks again to Tommy Vitor and Sherrard Brown. That's it for this episode. Talk to you on Sunday.

You've been listening to No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen. produced by Sam Graber, music by Wellesie, and interviews edited for YouTube by Nicholas Nicotera. If you want to support the show, please subscribe on your preferred podcast app and leave a five-star rating in a review. And as always, you can find me at Brian Tyler Cohen on all of my other channels, or you can go to Briantellercoen.com to learn more.